Archives for January 2013

A group of Moapa Valley High School students worked hard and earned money to attend the Presidential Inauguration on January 21.

Over a year ago MVHS Government Teacher Charlie Cooper began recruiting kids to sign up for the trip. After extensive fundraising by the students they were able to take the trip last week to attend the Inauguration ceremonies for the second term of President Barack Obama.

The Overton Wildlife Management Area (OWMA) located just south of downtown Overton is hosting a rather unusual guest this winter. And it has captured the attention of people from all over the southwestern United States.

A couple of weeks ago, a birdwatcher touring through the OWMA caught sight of a bird which is rarely seen in this hemisphere:

If you regularly drive the highways and byways around Moapa Valley, you have probably noticed an increased presence of the Moapa Tribal Police officers in the area over the last couple of years. The Tribal Police has gone through a dramatic change in that time. Once known for being a rather backwater police force; criticized for being understaffed, underqualified and underfunded; the Tribal Police now no longer resembles that same old institution.

The Moapa Valley will be hosting an all new bicycle race challenge next month. The first Valley of Fire Stage Bicycle Race will be held February 23-24 and it will be based out of Overton.

The event will consist of three stages. The first stage will begin at 8:00 am on Saturday, February 23, at the intersection of I-15 and Hidden Valley Road (Highway 78.) The riders will ride North to the turnaround just short of the intersection with NV-168 and then return to the finish line.

The Grant Bowler Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) will be kicking off a winter fundraiser on Friday during the school’s Morning Muster ceremony before the start of the school day. At that time, kids and parents will get a sneak peak at the fundraiser event with music, dances, cheers and a sneak preview of the prizes available for participants.

Since August, students at Mack Lyon Middle School have been innovating a future city in preparation for this year’s Future Cities contest. On Saturday, January 19 four of the local teams gave presentations to the District Judges in Las Vegas at the competition.

No one asked me but… I have been calling for a new political party. But the one that is quickly evolving is not what I had in mind. With the decline of the Republican Party, we are seeing the development of the Republicrat Party. A group of politicians sent to Washington as Republicans are morphing into something new. These folks have watched the people turn away from their hard line demand for strong immigration laws and fiscal responsibility.

Animals may kill for food; however, man, the apex animal, kills his own kind for power, greed, revenge, sport and pleasure.

Man has strived to develop and expand weapons of death and destruction from the stone age to the nuclear age with astounding success.

Our country’s fathers, in 1776, scribed the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments). The order of the rights were specific: the first being the right of speech and the second the right to bear arms to protect the constitution (government) and our rights.

Most of my life I’ve paid no income taxes. I’ve never been in anybody’s union, so I’ve always paid Social Security taxes. You know: they take it out of your check if you’re non-union without you having any say-so about it.

For almost all of my life, they took income taxes from me all year as well. But at tax time, I simply filled out the tax return form and every dime of income tax was given back to me. Year after year it was all given back, so in the end, I wound up paying no taxes. The only money I lost was any interest I would have made if my dollars had been in my own bank account instead of IRS coffers.

Tristan Verne Ables, age 17, died Tuesday, January 15, 2013 in Overton, Nevada from injuries sustained in an auto accident. He was born September 27, 1995 in Corpus Christi, Texas to Marshall Paul Ables and Kay Christine Henke Johnson.